Norwell searches for new turtle habitat site
Norwell officials are looking for a second piece of land to set aside for the endangered Eastern box turtle after a state decision rejected a plan that would have allowed the town to replicate the turtle’s lost habitat on 30 acres adjacent to a proposed new cemetery.
Cemetery Committee Chairwoman Gertrude Nadeau said officials have been told by Natural Heritage--a state program that oversees endangered animals and their habitats-that a 30-acre parcel bordering the town’s planned new cemetery cannot be counted as a site to replicate the turtle’s habitat because the land is already deemed protected under state law.
The decision has forced the town to find another location for the turtles and has initiated a group effort among several town boards.
“We’ve formed a committee to find a home for the turtles,” Nadeau said. “At least the land doesn’t have to be adjacent to the cemetery land. If it was, we’d be sunk,” she said.
The committee includes a member of the Board of Selectmen, Cemetery Committee, Conservation Commission and a consultant working with the Cemetery Committee to develop the burial grounds.
Nadeau said there are numerous town-owned parcels that could be used and the ad-hoc committee’s job is to narrow them down to the one or two that best meet state regulations.
She said the state decision slows plans for the project, but hopes a new site can be identified.
The recent land-use decision stems from a plan Norwell officials submitted to the state in August.
The 30 acres were offered to meet state regulations that require developers—public and private-to replicate wetlands and endangered species habitats that are destroyed by construction.
When plans moved ahead for the cemetery last year, the box turtle habitat became a problem for town officials because its presence on the site triggered replication regulations and a debate about what town parcel to pitch for the turtles.
Cemetery Committee members and Selectmen expected the adjacent parcel to be a satisfactory option for the state because the town had not deemed it protected land, but Conservation Commission members argued the land would not work because it is under the control of the Conservation Commission, and under state law is considered protected with or without a vote of Town Meeting.
“When it's under the control of the Conservation Commission it's a protectd site, and once it is already protected, you can’t protect it twice,” said Thomas French, assistant director of the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, which oversees Natural Heritage.
French said despite the dispute, Cemetery Committee supporters and those who believed the land was not protected because Town Meeting had not voted it so, asked for a decision about the land’s status from the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, which last week ruled the 30-acre parcel cannot be used as an option.
French said Natural Heritage is not trying to prevent the cemetery’s construction and while there are restrictions the town does not have to offer a parcel adjacent to the new cemetery.
He said when the town comes back with another site it will be reviewed and hopefully approved as long as it meets state requirements.
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